Chapter Forty: Special
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As Regan sat silently at the open bay window on the fourth floor of the Weasley home, she wondered how such an old house managed to keep so warm on chilly fall afternoons. It had been years since things had settled in the magical world, more than Regan was willing to admit. She did not feel old in this new decade, but she moved a bit more thoughtfully.
In a week, she would begin her fifth year of teaching Charms at Hogwarts, something that she was actually eager to begin. The first two years after the war had been difficult. Enrollment had been very low and despite their many connections to the Ministry, funding had been hard to come by. People were finding difficulty in trusting a place that had once had a terrible reputation. There were a few families that remained loyal to Hogwarts, but many were still wary. As Head Mistress, Hermione made it her goal as an educator to fill every seat, even if she had to go door to door to do it, which she did.
Her tireless efforts had worked, though not on the scale that they had hoped. Students were slowly returning, some coming to Hogwarts for the very first time. This year had the highest enrollment ever, ensuring that each teacher would have students ranging from year one to seven. Regan was particularly excited; they were finally reintroducing the O.W.L.'s and the N.E.W.T.'s.
When Regan heard a pair of muffled footsteps coming up the creaking stairs, she knew that Charlie was off work. When he stepped into the doorway, Regan wasn't surprised to see his jacket slung over his arm with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his tie greatly loosened. He didn't say a word, only smiling as he bent down and kissed her. He slumped down next to her in the window box, letting out a heavy sigh. She moved close to him, nearly sitting in his lap and running her fingers across his short red hair.
"How was it?" She asked, her voice a low whisper. Charlie shrugged his shoulders.
"We're having trouble tracking down the last few Hornbacks, but otherwise good. The camp is almost completely rebuilt and we've got a new team of trainers that are helping us with the tracking." He said with a smirk. Regan returned the small smile, taking his hand and giving it a small squeeze. The love that was shared between them had completely warmed Regan's heart and nearly swept her off her feet. She had never expected to ever have such feelings of longing for one man, not after Lucius. But as she looked back, she couldn't imagine surviving the past years without him.
A few months after Regan and Charlie had been married, she had become deeply depressed. She had difficulty getting out of bed and being around people, pushing them away, including Charlie. She even shut out her father, eventually spending all of her time immersed in her work at Hogwarts. It had all started when journalists began approaching her, wanting to interview her about the role that she had played during the rebellion. They wanted to know everything that had happened with Lucius and every detail of her life. She suffered a severe panic attack, forced to relive everything that had happened in the great manor. It made her sick that they would even want to know what had happened; how could they even ask about Oskar or Lucius? It got to the point where Regan couldn't even bring herself to talk to Charlie; she isolated herself and became wary of her coworkers and family.
It had been Charlie that had pulled her out of it, thank God. Frankly, seeing her like this made him extremely mad. He didn't like seeing her hurt and he didn't like that complete strangers were making her completely break down. So he got rid of them; he threatened them with deathly violence if they ever came anywhere near his wife. Then he turned his attentions to Regan, despite her best efforts to push him away. He pursued her for days, take a month off of work in an effort to give her whatever attention she needed. That only caused Regan to get away from him more, especially when he began to spend every waking moment with her. He wasn't going away until she told him what she needed, but...Regan didn't know what she needed; she didn't know how to make herself better. It frustrated both her and Charlie and a storm was brewing in the small Weasley household. Regan reached her tipping point when Charlie refused to allow her to leave the house until she and him talked about this.
Regan finally lost it. Sobbing and beating against his chest, Regan let out every emotion that she had been keeping stuffed down inside of her. Everything that she had ever wanted to say to Lucius came flying out and by the end, Charlie was crying too. He hugged her and held her tightly, rocking her against his chest.
"I love you for who you are, not what you've done."
It was exactly what Regan had needed.
"I'm actually surprised that you're here; I thought that you two would have gone straight home." Charlie muttered, kissing her temple and inwardly delighting when Regan smiled and kissed him back.
"We would have, but he was very insistent about seeing grandpa, so I figured it would be all right as long as he napped."
Their eyes then focused on a sleeping form breathing gently in the slim spare bed. Hidden by a dark blue knitted blanket, only the top of his bright red hair was visible. He would be three in November, something that he would proclaim to anybody who would listen. He was a gift that Regan had never expected to receive or to enjoy. For his age, he was smart and resourceful, often times adopting his mother's silence while thinking. He was a bit solemn for a little boy, but he had carefree moments like his father.
"It's past four, should we wake him?" Charlie asked. Regan nodded, smiling slightly as Charlie stood and bent over, pulling the blanket away from his freckled face to allow him to wake up. The boy was quite happy to see Charlie, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck and allowing himself to be pulled out of bed. Regan followed them downstairs where Molly was busily preparing dinner while Arthur read his paper. Molly instantly stopped what she was doing to gently smooth back her grandson's wild red hair, gently kissing his forehead.
"Hello handsome, did you have a nice nap?" She asked sweetly, smiling as he reached out for her. She gladly took him, rocking him while quickly stirring whatever sauce she was working on. "Ginny is coming for dinner, Bill and Fleur too; would you all like to join us?"
"Thank you Molly, that would be wonderful." Regan quickly answered, already knowing that Charlie would be fine with it. When the young boy began to squirm as if to demonstrate just how awake he was, Molly set him down only to watch him run to Arthur to wiggle into his lap and pretend to read whatever Arthur was reading. "He really needs to get his hair cut." Regan muttered, running a hand across his head in an effort to push down the bits sticking straight up only to have her hand pushed away as the little boy focused on reading with grandpa.
"Come on buddy, don't you want short hair like your dad?" Charlie asked with a cool smile.
Judging by the frown on the little boy's face, he did not.
Charlie chuckled while Regan silently plotted to cut out the too tangled bits while he was sleeping.
"Why don't my three favorite men go out and see if they can find any gnomes in the garden?" Molly offered with a brilliant smile, tapping a pile of vegetables with her wand to make them wash themselves. Charlie instantly hoisted his son out of Arthur's lap, smiling as he giggled and excitedly flailed his arms to try and get outside. Arthur stood with a heaving sigh, receiving a pluck on the cheek as he passed Molly. The door was kept open to keep the kitchen cool while they cooked, but there was something off about the mood. Something was on Molly's mind and Regan wasn't going anywhere until everything was said and done.
"So, how do you like the new home?" Molly asked as she pulled out ingredients for what appeared to be rolls.
God bless that woman for making fresh bread.
"It's good, still a little barren, though."
"Oh just give it time. Moving from that tiny flat to that big house will make everything you have seem small."
Charlie and Regan were damn lucky, there was no denying that. The salary that he brought in as head of a department was sizable, affording them a large triplex in the London magic district. The home was lovely; an all brick building only housing four units and creating a small communal feeling. The main floor had every room that you would expect a home to have with the added bonus of a large kitchen and a large dining room, a necessity if you were a member of the Weasley family. The second floor had two large bedrooms, the largest of course going to their only child and the other remaining empty for now. The third floor was the master suite complete with a stone fireplace, separate walk-in closets, and a large master bath. Regan didn't know what to do with these huge spaces, finding that their previous furniture did not fit such a large house. The only person that seemed to be blissfully happy with the house was Dickens, who was enjoying all the stairs despite his short legs.
"I'm not sure what to do with that third bedroom." Regan muttered as she helped Molly measure and pour until the dough was made.
"Oh I'm sure that won't be a problem for much longer." Molly said with a knowing smile. "When are you going to tell him?"
Regan almost smiled. Of course Molly would figure it out before anybody else; how could Regan have ever thought otherwise?
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Regan said evenly. Molly quirked an eyebrow, her smile widening.
"I'm sure you have some news that you would like to share…information that the rest of the family would be thrilled about?" Regan couldn't hold back her smile for another moment as she began sectioning off the dough, rolling them into thick flat circles and coating the top with melted butter.
"If there were any news, which there isn't, it would probably be shared in about a month…when things are official." Molly turned bright red, the smile almost popping off of her face.
"I'm so happy for the pair of you." She said, her voice quivering with tears. "How far along are you?"
"Nothing is along…but if it were…about fifteen weeks." Molly instantly wiped her hands on her apron, rushing around the table and tightly hugging Regan. The hugs had been something that had taken a while to get used to, but they were always so warm and gentle; she could never turn down a Molly hug.
"Your father would have been so pleased." Regan bit her lower lip, slowly nodding.
The time spent in Azkaban had taken a greater toll on her father that nobody could have guessed. He was often ill and it got to the point where he could no longer live on his own. The original plan was that he would live with Charlie and Regan; that was the reason they had bought the house with the extra bedroom, but it became clear that Regan and Charlie couldn't properly take care of him the way that he needed to be cared for. He was moved to a quiet wing at St. Mungo's, and the nursing staff was quick to tell Regan that her father didn't have long.
So the house sat empty and Regan spent all of her free time with her father. Somehow, between teaching classes and sitting with her father, she had gotten pregnant, something that actually made her father happy. He was smiling more, and when she began to show, he would gently touch her stomach, smiling and always speaking softly. When she delivered in November, her father was wheeled in straight away and was the first to hold the swaddled child. It was one of the best moments of Regan's life watching her father hold her son.
And apparently, it was the best moment of his life too.
He had held out to see the child and now that he had this moment, he needed nothing else.
Two weeks later, he died with only Regan by his side. He was cremated and they scattered his ashes on the coast of his hometown of Arundel. It had been raining fiercely the whole trip with strong winds, so she had gone to the beach alone. When she had let him go, after over an hour of just standing in the sodden sand, his ashes had blown away instantly, billowing out of the sea and forever disappearing into the wind.
When Regan pulled back from the hug, she wasn't too surprised to see that Molly was crying. While this was far from her first grandchild, it was endearing to see her so genuinely excited for them.
"All right there, Molly?" Arthur asked as he trudged back into the house, Charlie close behind with his son running past them both, his head bobbing at their knees. As soon as Molly caught sight of Charlie, she pulled him into a tight hug. He furrowed his brow, glancing up at Regan.
"What's going on?" He asked, his voice faltering as his mother squeezed him tightly. Regan shrugged her shoulders, a cool expression on her face.
"I have no idea." She said evenly, making Charlie look at his mom as if she had gone mad.
"That's the baby cry." Arthur easily explained as he sat back down with his paper, having heard it many times before, smiling up at Regan. "Congratulations sweetheart."
"Thank you, Arthur." Regan said with a sweet smile on her face.
"You're pregnant?" Charlie asked, bewildered and a little irked about being the last person in the room to know. Regan shrugged her shoulders, the limp sweater she was wearing drooping slightly.
"Yes, but only fifteen weeks." She told him innocently. Charlie was almost instantly in front of her, quickly yanking up her loose sweater to reveal that she was already showing. He touched her stomach with gentle fingertips, a smile wistfully forming on his face.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, his eyes still trained on her budding stomach. Regan bit her lower lip, shivering from his light touches.
"I wanted to make sure…that it wouldn't go away." She admitted quietly, the fear understandably lodged deeply within her psyche. Charlie just nodded, finally looking up at her and smiling.
"We're going to have another baby." He said with a blissful smile on his face. Regan smirked, slowly nodding.
"It looks that way, yes." She answered. "But please, let's just keep this between us, all right?" She asked, looking to Molly as Charlie pulled her close and kissed her temple. She quickly nodded and smiled, wiping away her tears and busying herself around the kitchen as the clock ticked, revealing the impending arrival of Ginny, Bill, and Fleur. All the while, Charlie was still rubbing Regan's stomach and she jumped slightly when she felt a pair of small hands reach up and touch her stomach as well. She looked down only to smile and place her hand upon the head of that beautiful downy hair.
"Is there a baby in your tummy, mum?" He asked innocently, his voice naturally soft as he peered up at his mother with the same brilliant green eyes that they shared.
"Yes my love, a very tiny baby." She responded, her voice equally soft. He stared intently at her pale stomach, moving his hand across the skin before glancing back up at her.
"Will you give it a special name?" He asked curiously. Regan smiled, gently touching his hand with her fingertips.
"I suppose so." She said, hearing Charlie chuckle against her ear. A smile suddenly burst onto his face when he looked back up at Regan.
"Like me?"
The kitchen suddenly grew still as eyes trained themselves on the young boy and Regan. She felt her smile falter, but forced it to remain on her face as she took her son's hand, squeezing it tightly.
"Yes Oskar, just like you."
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A/N: I'm very sad that this is the last chapter :( I've enjoyed writing this story and I hope that you've all enjoyed reading it :) Please feel free to check out my other stories; I probably won't be posting anything soon because I'm working on a novel. And I encourage you to search through other OC stories; I know that it's not everybody's favorite option, but you never know what kind of gems you'll find!
Dragoon Dave: You always call it...and yes, last chapter :(
